How to get onto Rise of the Resistance

OK … so Rise of the Resistance is a bigger experience then you may have bargained for. This ride has a very unique queuing system referred to as "virtual queuing". In some ways it is a cool experience as much as it is stressful. Firstly you have to get to the park early … by early I mean 5:30am. The park will start to allow people to enter at 6:30am despite nothing being open until 7am. Now here comes the fun. At 7am the ride virtual queuing opens (this is also announced on the PA). So at this stage everyone opens the Disney App and applies for a Group to Board. Anyone who is in the park (must have checked in using the magic band) at 7am or later can apply for a Group Boarding. HOWEVER the allocation of boarding groups is random and spots are allocated incredibly quickly. The couple next to us got Group 15, we got Group 54 and the family in front of us got 86, yet we all were allocated our groups at 07:01 am. Each hour groups are called, anywhere from 10 to 20 groups. When you are called you have two hours to enter the ride. Once on the ride you are queued for 30 minutes to 1 hour. It is important to note there is no guarantee you will actually get a group and further your group will end up riding the attraction.

The experience of queuing was awesome. We met people who had the same mission, to get onto the ride. The camaraderie was strong. What was funny was when people got allocated a group they cheered and clapped. One person said, "The allocation of groups and people cheering when getting them was like a religious experience". Very appropriate description.

So moral of the story, if you want to ride Rise of The Resistance you need to get to the park early, I suggest 1 to 1.5 hours minimum. Also go with the flow … you may not get on … be prepared should that happen.

What the ride is like (Spoilers big time!!) - By Olivier

Rise of the Resistance is definitely one of my favourite rides of all time as it fully immerses the vistors into the Star Wars universe and allows them to experience what it's like to walk around or be walked around inside Star Wars.

This ride was mind blowning and completely blew all my expectations out of the water, from the first shock of the Imperial Officer being human and telling you to get off the passenger ship to the arriving at the resistance base. It was really worth waking up incredibly early to do the ride.

First the ride takes you through the beginning part and gives the backstory, after that you get put into a ship on a rebel base outside and taken away from the planet to escape the First Order. You are then pulled into the tractor beam of Kylo Ren and Commander Hux's Command ship, you are told you are under arrest and a First Order officer comes through the same door you went through. You are told to move out the vehicle and you find yourself in the docking station of the First Order ship.

You are then moved into the corridors and put into lines on colours, (you need to remember these colours as they are used later in the ride) you are then put into a cell where you meet Kylo Ren and Commander Hux, then you are busted out of the cell and out into prisoner transport carts.

You are pulled around the ship by a droid leading to your eventual discovery by a couple of Stormtroopers, where you start running around the ship trying to avoid being spotted and shot by either Kylo Ren or the Stormtroopers chasing you.

You end up being rescued in an escape pod where you are lead to the end of the ride.

Other Day Highlights By Loic

So following our crazy start of the day, we managed to get on to Star Wars Smuggler's Run. Dad and Mum got to be the pilots (that was a mistake), Philippe and I were the gunners and Olivier the engineer. Dad and Mum were teriible at piloting the Millenium Falcon, I was surprised that we didn't crash, but it was a fun ride.

We then continued on to Oga's Cantina where Dad and Olivier had some weird drinks, Mum and I shared a different kind of juice in a Prog mug. It is a strange experience to which you are only allowed to be in there for 45 minutes, but it is quite fun and you feel like you are really on another planet and in the Star Wars movies.

Dad, Olivier and Philippe got a fastpass for the Aerosmith Roller Coaster, they love that ride, I stayed warm in the sun with Mum.

The Indiana Jones Show is still a favourite and fun to watch on how they do the stunts.

While waiting for our boarding on the Rise of the Resistance, it gave us a chance to explore Galaxy's Edge a bit more thoroughly. We checked out the games, animals and merchandise available. We also got a chance to play with the interactive app that is available and got to translate some messages hidden around the place. (Didier edit - The app is very immersive and the boys believe it is better than the Harry Potter interactive stuff at Universal).

After our incredible day at Galaxy's Edge, we headed to Magic Kingdom, where we got a chance to ride Prirates of Caribbean before going to dinner at the Skipper Canteen which is based on the Jungle Cruise storyline. Very good restaurant.

Finally home and finally bed!